MEM

And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb(Rev 22:1)

For His Glory!

Message

"Good News for the Lukewarm."

Taken from an article written by Gary Wilkerson of World Challenge

"In reference to Christ speaking to the Church at Laodicea; that their works were lukewarm. To awaken in each of us a desire to examine for any attitude or work that tends to displease our God by being lukewarm."

Rev 3:15

'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. 16 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17 'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. (NAS unless indicated)

"Over the years as pastor I’ve observed several signs in believers who grow lukewarm. All these signs may seem overly familiar to you, but read them in light of Jesus’ words about ‘knowing our works’ and see if any relate to you:" (edited for length)

Prayerlessness

. …in reality a halfhearted prayer life reveals something about any believer. That person’s works - or lack of them - reflect a condition of his heart. Prayer is a godly work that springs from a Spirit filled heart.

Being unstirred by God’s Word

. Reading God’s Word is meant to awaken, move and rouse us.

Disobedience to God’s Word

. The lukewarm believer … (is) like the man described in James’ epistle: He looks at himself in the mirror and sees his condition-but when he walks away he quickly forgets what he’s seen. He conveniently overlooks that being called to Christ is an all-consuming passion.

Little regard for the lost

. When the lukewarm believer is shown reports of the lost and the desperate-whether in his backyard or overseas-he remains unstirred. Even as he considers his unbelieving loved ones he isn’t bothered.

Irregular gathering with other believers

. The lukewarm believer goes to church not to be transformed but because it serves him to go. - He chooses to go whenever he wants with only his convenience in mind.

An indifference toward apathy in the church

. A lukewarm Christian doesn’t care whether his brothers or sisters are lukewarm, too. He’s content to sing worship songs with them and hear sermons without allowing anything to sink in. If he had his way nothing about his church would ever change. He could care less whether it becomes a vibrant servant-body to the community." Gary Wilkerson

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I am not sure how you have read the above, or if you have read it at all. One of the signs of the end time church is being lukewarm. Revelation chapters 2 and 3 cover seven churches of God. Some believe they are sequential in its history. Some believe they are simultaneous in their existence; or a combination of both. Whichever you believe makes no difference because there is either a segment or a majority with the lukewarm - Laodicean - attitude in the church today.

The challenge for each of us is to read thru the above points and check our attitude toward each of them. It might be added, if you are lukewarm, you may need extra help when reading thru these signs - Why? Because:

‘… you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, Rev 3:17. Thus we can read right thru these key points and miss their application to each of us.

Gary’s purpose as stated above is: "To awaken in each of us a desire to examine for any attitude or work that tends to displease our God by being lukewarm."

Our prayer:

"Father and Yeshua (Jesus) our Master, it is our desire to do Your will; that we not displease You in anyway whatsoever. Therefore we come to You, in light of Your messages to the seven churches - especially that about Laodicea.

"Open our blind eyes that we see our wretched condition, our nakedness and our poor performance before You and the Assembly of Messiah.

"We beseech You to open our deaf ears to hear what the Spirit says to the churches; to see the need to follow Your advice -

Rev 3:18 "I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see." Because You said 19 "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent."

"We earnestly repent of our lukewarm-ness; our desire is to be the spotless bride of Messiah by yielding to Your Spirit and Your Word. Blessed by Your Name." Amen

Here Yeshua expresses His great love for the children of God:

Rev 3:20

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

Thy Kingdom come… Amen

(* editing is done to shorten length - you are encouraged to read the full commentary where applicable)

Proverbs

Why would we want to seek our God?

Proverbs 2:6

For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

He will Deliver Us:

Proverbs 2:10

For wisdom will enter your heart, And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; 11 Discretion will guard you, Understanding will watch over you, 12 To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things; 13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness, To walk in the ways of darkness; 14 Who delight in doing evil, And rejoice in the perversity of evil; 15 Whose paths are crooked, And who are devious in their ways; 16 To deliver you from the strange woman, From the adulteress who flatters with her words; 17 That leaves the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God; 18 For her house sinks down to death, And her tracks lead to the dead; 19 None who go to her return again, Nor do they reach the paths of life.

Why Deliver us?

Proverbs 2:20

So you will walk in the way of good men, And keep to the paths of the righteous. 21 For the upright will live in the land, And the blameless will remain in it; 22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land, And the treacherous will be uprooted from it.

We must resist the tendency of our nature to be lukewarm (showing little enthusiasm, half-hearted, indifferent) ; and to resist complacency (Self-satisfaction, self-gratification, self-righteousness). We need to repent of our ways and turn to YHVH to transform us by the renewing of our mind.

Rom 12:1

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will.

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Master - grant us ears to hear, a heart to repent and grace to live by Your instruction. Amen

Saying (s)

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Words of wisdom come from many sources. We do well to hear them and compare them to the Words of the Creator. Words of wisdom carry their greatest impact not in the utterance of them but when one is actively living by them.

Psalm 19:12

Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. 13 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. 14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

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Father, may we see it is not just saying we be Your child - but by Your Spirit making it so.

Bible Quiz

What did Yeshua (Jesus) teach if one offers a gift at the altar and remembers that his brother has something against him?

Which book covers the reign of Saul as king of Israel and introduces David as his successor?

Where did God tell Elijah to hide?

To what are we not to conform?

What did Joseph call his brothers when they first came to Egypt?

Who told Herod it was not lawful for him to have his brother’s wife?

Who said, "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him"?

Humility

In our pursuit of humility:

(Lessons from humility and sin.)

"It is the soul that finds God to be everything that is so filled with His presence there is no place for self. So alone can the promise be fulfilled:The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day." Isa 2:11(NIV) Andrew Murray

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What makes a saint ‘lukewarm’?

It is our arrogance, the pride of our old nature, that causes us to place little value on the redemption and reconciliation that has transformed us into children of God. And when we fail to be humbled by Messiah’s grace in our life.

For when we are fully aware of the presence of our Creator we can be nothing but zealous for His Kingdom.

Micah 6:8

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

It is difficult to read the totality of Scripture without seeing the great effect prayer has in calling on the great and Awesome God - those that have such a relationship with their Creator are able to move mountains - so to speak. Yeshua said, John 15:5 "… without me ye can do nothing." We can be sure, as in this incident, Elisha, could do nothing without a trusting relationship with the merciful YHVH.

The warring king of Syria:

2Kgs 6:8

Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, "I will set up my camp in such and such a place."

So Elisha warns Israel to beware:

2Kgs 6:9

The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: "Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there." 10 So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.

An army sent to apprehend Elisha:

2Kgs 6:11

This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, "Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?" 12 "None of us, my lord the king," said one of his officers, "but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom."13 "Go, find out where he is," the king ordered, "so I can send men and capture him." The report came back: "He is in Dothan." 14 Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.

Picture waking up to this:

2Kgs 6:15

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked.

Faith in the Mighty YHVH gives peace:

2Kgs 6:16

"Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

Prayer - to see the protective spirit realm - YHVH does it:

If this encounter does not bring chills of exhilaration, even to the lukewarm, what will?

2Kgs 6:17

And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Prayer - to deal with this aggressive army - YHVH responds:

2Kgs 6:18

As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, "Strike these people with blindness." So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.

Elisha was pleasing in YHVH’s sight - thus His promise:

Proverbs 16:7

When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

How can we leave off here? Next time let us see the mercy of YHVH through Elisha.

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Father, grant us the faith of Yeshua to rightly pray as Elijah did - for friend or foe - Amen.

Heart of God

How does God feel about issues we face today?

The Haggai Test

Do you sow much yet harvest little?

Do you eat and drink but are not full / satisfied?

Are you cold despite being clothed?

Do you earn money but it never is enough?

Do you want much but only have a little?

Has what you have been blown away?

Has there been a drought in the land?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, it is time to examine your priorities. Do you feel like you are spinning your wheels and can never get ahead? Read the short book of Haggai, in particular chapter one. The Israelites in Haggai's time were suffering from all these issues. The problem was they were putting their own priorities, their own needs, their own house first, and neglecting the house of the Lord. (Not putting Him first.) How is your spiritual house looking? Are you consumed with building His kingdom or your own? Wake up, it's time to build His house!

1Cor 6:19-20

What? know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have of God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

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Material in this section is based on various prayer diaries.

Did you know:

Take an Obstacle - Create an Opportunity

Good ideas can be found in the most unexpected places.

Here are two business ideas that sprang from challenges that would have meant failure to most people:

During the construction of a high-speed railway line in northern Japan, a long tunnel had to be drilled through Mount Tanigawa. Water from the snows melting on the mountain’s peak seeped into the tunnel, and engineers had to design a system to drain it. One maintenance worker suggested bottling the pure mountain water and selling it. The water was marketed under the name Oshimizu, sold in vending machines at train stations, and went on to encompass fruit juice and tea products and sales of $50 million a year by the mid-1990s.

An entrepreneur went to California during the Gold Rush of the 1840s to seek his fortune, but instead of panning for gold, he planned to sell tents to the thousands of treasure hunters. To his disappointment, the weather was so mild that most of the miners were able to sleep out in the open instead of investing in his tents. So he cut up his products and used the thick cotton material to stitch heavy, durable work pants. They became a hit, and the man’s name, Levi Strauss, is a household name today.

From An E-mail:

Free Stuff

The folks who are getting thefree stuffdon't like the folks who are paying for thefree stuff, because the folks who are paying for thefree stuffcan no longer afford to pay for both thefree stuffand their own stuff.

And, the folks who are paying for thefree stuffwant thefree stuffto stop.

And the folks who are getting thefree stuffwant even more free stuffon top of the free stuffthey are already getting!

Now... the people who are forcing the people who pay for the free stuff have told the people who are RECEIVINGthefree stuffthat the people who are PAYING for thefree stuffare being mean, prejudiced, and racist.

So... the people who are GETTING thefree stuffhave been convinced they need to hate the people who are paying for the free stuff by the people who are forcing some people to pay for their free stuffand giving them the free stuffin the first place.

We have let thefree stuffgiving go on for so long that there are now more people getting free stuffthan paying for thefree stuff.

Now understand this. All great democracies have committed financial suicide somewhere between 200 and 250 years after being founded.

And the reason:

The voters figured out they could vote themselves money from the treasury by electing people who promised to give them money from the treasury in exchange for electing them.

The United States officially became a Republic in 1776; that is236 years ago.

The number of people now getting

free stuffoutnumbers the people paying for thefree stuff.Failure to change that spells the end of the United States as we know it.

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Our Father in heaven - Thy Kingdom Come that Your will be done.

May we, Your people, be diligent in following Your principles so clearly revealed in Your Word.

Lighter Side

A Humorous Look at Life

We never really grow up. We only learn how to act in public.

Do not argue with a fool. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a workstation…

Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says, "In case of emergency notify…" I put

"A DOCTOR".

You do not need a parachute to skydive. You do need a parachute to skydive twice.

You are never too old to learn something stupid.

I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not so sure.

If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.

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Have a good day!

The Modern Church

95 Theses to the Modern Evangelical Church

by Greg Gordon - (founder of SermonIndex.net)

63. The judgment seat of Christ is perhaps one of the most neglected topics in the modern pulpit. (2Cor 5:10; Rom 14:10; 1Cor 3:13)

64. The second coming of Christ needs to be re-instated as the church’s general thrust and burden. (1Jn 3:2-3; Col 3:4-6; 1Ths 4:14-17)

65. The church has lost the fear of God and has over emphasized the love of God. (Heb 12:28-29; Lk 12:5; Heb 10:31)

Cause and Effect

Scribbles

(By Michael Boldea Jr.)

"It is time to cut away any and all things that weigh us down, that impede our progress, and that hinder our walk, it is time to gird up the loins of our minds, to be sober and vigilant and walk with confidence the narrow path of faith, because God will no longer tarry, and what has been happening throughout the world in recent months is proof positive of this." (Hand of Help)

Amen

Consider

The best way to win is to forget to keep score

Just be foolish enough to speak the truth and others will seek your wisdom

Make allowances for your friends’ imperfections as readily as you do for your own

Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day

Love doesn’t make the world go round, but it makes the ride worthwhile

If you must speak ill of someone, write it in sand at the water’s edge

Some times you have to be silent in order to be heard.

Bytes

Obligation Is Not Negative

You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the LORD, so as to make atonement for your lives. (Exodus 30:16; ESV)

Money and religion is a topic that makes a lot of people uneasy. *

In many of the religious circles I have walked in there is one aspect of this issue that is almost completely neglected, and that is obligation.

Yeshua upheld the Old Covenant tithing obligations while questioning the priorities of the religious leaders (see Matthew 23:23). Another time he confronts legalistic manipulation of religious tradition in order to withhold support of parents (see Mark 7:9-13). The obligation to care for one's family's material needs as a necessary expression of true godliness is confirmed by Paul (see 1 Timothy 5:8) as is our duty to provide for our religious leaders (see 1 Timothy 5:17, 18), harkening back to the obligatory temple tax from our Torah portion. The way Paul explains it, giving was to be voluntary, but based on an understanding of how God distributes wealth and the obligation for those who have been materially prospered to help those who lack (see 2 Corinthians 8:13-15).

Obligations are a privilege. Whatever true obligations we have are due to the responsibilities given to us by God. This in no way justifies greed or manipulative tactics geared to extract funds from us. It is common in many cultures today to take family, organizations, and government for granted, thinking that they have some sort of magical supply of goods and that we exist to be the deserving recipients of their benevolence. Instead we need to understand that these God-ordained institutions are only as good as we make them. To withhold our support, be it financial or otherwise, is to undermine them.

*(This document was edited for length)

By: Alan Gilman
TorahBytes Communications

Psalm Promise

Psalm 37:3-7

Ps 37:3

Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

Ps 37:4

Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

Ps 37:5

Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.

Ps 37:6

And He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your judgment as the noonday.

Ps 37:7

Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

This portion of ‘The Psalm Promise’ has the flavor of a loving relationship with our Maker. How could one not be diligently zealous about our trust in YHVH’s promises. Of course we need to be sure it is, as here, written in His Word. Often we conjure up some unrealistic desire or wish with no Scriptural backing. Read it again carefully note our part in this relationship; Trust - Delight - Commitment - Rest - Waiting patiently; easily said not easily achieved. Oh, might I add not to fret, try that for a 24 hour period.

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Blessed be YHVH (Genesis 14:20

And blessed be God Most High…)

Essence of Scripture

"It is the soul that finds God to be everything that is so filled with His presence there is no place for self."

Andrew Murray

Quiz Answers

1. Be reconciled to his brother before offering his gift - Matthew 5:23-24